Soul Wrenching
by Selene467
Summary: Peter falls ill after the spider bite and returns home to his concerned dads. Everything seems fine until they hear screaming in the middle of the night. [Alternate Universe - Daemons]
1. Chapter 1

**Daemons are borrowed from the bookseries "His Dark Materials" or if more familiar with the film "The Golden Compass".**  
 **All you really need to know is that Daemons are the physical manifestation of a persons' soul in the form of an animal.**

 **This is my 2nd Marvel related story but my first Superfamily tagged one. If you're not a fan of Tony/Steve it is mild and limited to one small scene. The focus is on Peter so you'll have to judge for yourself whether to read it or skip it.**

* * *

Peter was breathing heavily by the time he stepped into the elevator of the Avengers' tower, his home. Cold sweat trickled down his back causing him to shiver. His stomach churned unpleasantly and he felt far too warm to be comfortable. As he leaned heavily against the wall, a familiar voice responded to his presence.

"Good evening, Peter. It is currently one hour and 24 minutes past your curfew."

"Hey Jarvis, yeah sorry about that. I guess they're waiting for me?"

"You would be correct, young sir. Good luck."

"Thanks JARVIS."

Peter grimaced at knowing what was waiting for him upstairs. His dads were protective and quick to worry which considering who they were and how many enemies they probably had, wasn't a bad thing. They just got a little overprotective with Peter.

The elevator came to a gentle stop at the right floor, the doors opening to reveal none other than his dads. Peter sighed internally, not feeling up to this but having no coice in the matter. He pushed off from the wall with more effort than was considered normal and immediately the stern faces morphed into concern and previosuly crossed arms reached forward as if to steady him. Peter usually dodged such attempts but his world shifted sideways dangerously, so he allowed them to steady him and almost literally pull him out of the elevator, his bag dragging behind him as he lacked the strength to lift it up.

"Peter, what's wrong?" His pops asked him as he brushed the sticky hair from his forehead.

Peter was still processing the question when he found himself seated on the couch, his pops face in front of him looking intently into his eyes and it occurred to Peter far too slowly that he was still waiting for an answer. He was prevented from answering by his dad's concerned voice from somewhere to his left.

"Where's Kalyca?"

A tingle of alarm shot through Peter as he tried to remember. Being reminded of Kalyca suddenly made Peter aware of his dads daemons flitting about, more concerned than his dads even because they didn't have anyone to fuss over like them.

His dad's raccoon, Basil, was walking back and forth on the back of the couch, leavinga brush of cool air in Peter's neck every time he passed by him. Qatara, on the other hand, was seated perfectly beside his pops, ears switching between up and alert and flat in the neck in concern.

"Peter," His pops hands gently held his face forcing Peter to look at him. "Where is she, son?"

Peter inhaled shakily as another shiver surged through him and he blinked several times before finally managing to answer through his fevered thoughts.

"Bag."

He realised now why his bag had felt so heavy when he'd dragged it behind him earlier. He'd forgotten that Kalyca had climbed in his bag when they both began to feel ill.

His dad immediately reached for the bag dropped beside the couch, pulling it open and releasing a sigh of relief at having found her. Basil jumped down beside him and gently pulled her out, revealing a wealth of frazzled fur and unclear eyes once they opened blearily at being removed from her hiding place.

"We don't feel so good."

Kalyca's words came out in a slur as she hung almost limply in Basil's hold. She shivered and abruptly curled into a tight ball, Peter mimicking her almost exactly a few seconds after.

"Let's get you two in bed. I think you're coming down with something."

Peter offered no resistance when his pops lifted him into his arms and carried him to the bedroom. Everything had turned into a blur of movement and actions and before he knew it both himself as Kalyca were tucked into bed and blissfully drugged by medicine and painkillers.

Explaining the reason for being so late would come later. For now, Peter had no strength or consciousness left to tell them about sneaking into Oscorp or make up an excuse so he wouldn't have to tell them about sneaking into Oscorp.

* * *

Steve was just turning back the bedspread when Qatara's ears shifted and her head came up turning towards the doorway. Basil came jogging into the room jumping onto the bed beside Qatara and promptly began cleaning his fur, clearly agitated. Tony followed suit clenching and unclenching his hands as he walked to his side of the bed and began to get ready for bed.

Qatara huffed her annoyance at their silence but remained otherwise silent, allowing Steve to handle this. She did nudge Basil non-to-gently before abruptly licking across his nose and getting the expected and intended reaction. A screech and a short tussle later and Basil was in a gentle dead-lock by Qatara, forced to endure her gently nosing him in an attempt to comfort him.

Tony stood as still as a statue while it was going on, completely unaware of Steve approaching him until he felt the hand on his arm gently but firmly turning him around. Tony refused to look at him though, not wanting the gentle reassurances he was sure were coming. He'd much rather stew in his anxiety, thank you very much.

"Tony, hey, look at me." Steve released his arm and both hands grabbed hold of his face and refused to let go even as Tony tried to wiggle free. "It's just the flu or something. JARVIS would pick up on anything life threatening. Peter is going to be fine."

Finally Tony gave in, how could he not. Steve had that affect on him, damn his very fine husband. "I know...I know, I just hate to see the kid suffer. He's suffered enough already in his life. "Tony placed his hands on Steve's for a moment before gently prying them off and continuing his task of getting ready for bed. "I hate being useless."

"You're not useless, Tony. Just being there for him is enough. Let's get some rest, you certainly look like you need it."

Before Tony could indignantly retaliate, Steve had already moved out of reach. Pretending to be offended, only slightly pretending, Tony got in bed beside his husband, Basil making himself comfortable on a pillow beside the bed, Qatara stretching out on her own on Steve's side.

Peter would be fine. That was the last thought in his head as Tony drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Tony was no stranger to nightmares, especially when he was worried about something or someone. In this case, Peter. So the nightmares that followed that night were not unexpected. What was unexpected was waking up abruptly from a nightmare, only to feel as if he were still dreaming. Emergency lighting was flashing in his room and from the sudden movement beside him, Tony knew Steve had awoken too and was already up. Tony quickly followed his lead, sparing a quick glance to find Basil nervously fidgeting on his nightstand, before turning his attention to JARVIS.

"What is going on, JARVIS?"

"Medical emergency! Mr. Parker is having trouble breathing, is in severe pain and his heart rate is reaching dangerous levels."

Steve was out the door in a heartbeat, Tony rapidly following him although there was no feasable chance of him keeping up with the supersoldier. "Alert Banner!" Tony ordered JARVIS as he ran.

Steve had likely already reached Peter's room by now but before Tony could find out he stopped dead in his tracks because of what he suddenly heard. Screaming. Terrible screaming coming from Peter's room, from Peter himself. It sounded like he was being murdered and didn't that bring to mind all kinds of horrifying images. Basil suddenly screeched in distress as he flattened himself to the ground. Daemons rarely screeched like that as it sounded unnatural and pointed out how deeply terrified and vulnerable they were at that moment. Tony reached down to comfort his daemon, confused as to why Basil would shows such behaviour when normally it was only used in the most extreme of situations, usually when a daemon was dying itself or its human. Before Tony could touch Basil a similar screech tore through the hallway and it wasn't coming from Basil.

Tony jumped up and ran the rest of the way, grinding to a halt in the open doorway taking in the terrible chaos inside.

Peter was tossing and turning and kicking and screaming on the bed as Steve did his every best to hold the teenager down while Kalyca was writhing on the floor in the middle of the room screeching her death rattle with Qatara pacing circles around her at a loss for how to help.

"Steve?!" Tony didn't know what to ask precisely. All he knew in that moment was utter fear for his son.

Peter was screaming his throat raw, throwing his limbs around wildly with no concern for who he might hit or how badly he might hurt himself in the process. If they didn't stop him soon, he'd end up bashing his head on something. Steve was always careful not to use too much strength at home, especially with Peter but now was not the time to be gentle.

"Steve, hold him still! He's going to hurt himself!"

"I'm trying, Tony!"

"Oh come on, captain. He's a skinny teenager and you're a supersoldier. I know you don't want to hurt him, but he's going to hurt himself if you don't give a little more."

"I'm serious, Tony! I'm using almost everything I've got!"

Steve's gaze was clear and honest, there was no lie there. He truly was giving it his all and yet Peter was giving him a hard time. Scrawny, unathletic Peter was giving Captain freakin' America a hard time?!

"JARVIS, where is Banner?!"

Tony barely heard the estimated time of arrival for Banner, his attention on Peter who had gone from scremaing to whimpering and wailing, still struggling against Steve's hold on him. Fearing the worst, he turned around to see how Kalyca was doing. His blood ran cold at the sight.

 _"Impossible!"_

Kalyca's skin was moving, shifting as if she were trying to change! But that was impossible. She was settled! She'd taken her permanent form. No daemon could shift once they settled. It was impossible! And yet there was no other explanation for what was happening. How often in his youth has he seen Basil shift to try out new forms.

 _"Please, help me. Make it stop!"_

"Peter! Can you hear me? Can you look at me? What is happening, son? Peter!? Peter!"

Peter went limp in Steve's arms, his eyes rolling into the back of his head and his breathing slowed down considerably. Kalyca was in a similar state, as if life had just drained from both of them.

"No! No, it can't be. Peter! Peter wake up!" Tony dropped beside the bed, shaking his barely alive son, watching the life slip out of him.

"What happened?!"

Tony and Steve looked over their shoulders at a very confused and concerned looking Banner standing in the doorway. Kalyca twitched once more drawing everyone's attention followed by Peter releasing a final breath of air.

"Mr. Parker has died, sir."

 _fin_

* * *

 ** _It's short and cut off at a mean place, but for now this is all I've got. I might continue it eventually though, but for now it's complete._**

 ** _List of Daemons:_**

 ** _Tony Stark - Basil a Raccoon, male_** ** _  
_ _Steve Rogers - Qatara a German Shepherd_** ** _  
_ _Peter Parker - Kalyca an Otter_**

 ** _Since I can't put up links or anything so for pictures of the daemons, just look for my deviantart, same name as here [Selene467]._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Note:**_ _ **This story takes places roughly after the first Avengers film and before any of the phase 2 films of the MCU. Obviously things are dif** **ferent from canon here and there with Peter already in the picture, Tony/Steve pairing etc. So it's not a perfect fit, but at least you'll have some idea of where the characters are at.**_ _ **In my head, I've sort of added two years give or take after Avengers 1 for the couple to actually get together. So kinda messed up the entire timeline :)  
**_ _ **Fanfiction allows for breaking boundaries after all.**_

 **Chapter 2**

"Mr. Stark?"

"Depends on who's asking."

"My name is Alan Fredrick. I'm here on behalf of Mr. Parker, sir."

"Richard? I haven't heard from him in years. How is he? What could he possibly want with me?"

"I'm very sorry sir. I'm afraid Mr. Parker has passed away."

"..."

"Mr. Stark? Are you alright?"

"How did it happen?"

"There was a plane accident. Neither he nor his wife made it."

"Mary? Both of them died?"

"Yes sir, I'm very sorry. I know this loss is hard to take, but it is only part of the reason I am here."

"What could you possibly be here for if not to tell me my friend and his wife have died."

"They had a son."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"He has an aunt and uncle who have indicated they'd be happy to take him. However, Richard made a will stating that you, Mr. Anthony Edward Stark have been given custody of Peter Parker, assuming you accept it. If you choose not to take him Benjamin and May Parker will get custody. Do you understand, sir?"

"The bastard used my full name in his will. He knows how much I hate it."

"Sir? Do you understand what I'm asking?"

"Giving me custody of a child? Of Richard's child? He must have gone mad. I'm not parent material."

"Does that mean you decline, Mr Stark? I need your confirmation in that case."

"Yeah, definitely. Kid will be better of with someone else, anyone else. Where do I sign?"

"I've got the papers right here. To be clear. Once you sign this, you will relinquish every and all rights to Peter Parker. Do you undestand?"

"Yes, yes, give me already!"

As soon as the pen touched the paper a strange sound distracted Tony. Looking down he saw Basil, his daemon. His attention was drawn to something behind the social worker. Tony couldn't be bothered to remember his name. Following Basil's gaze, Tony froze when he realised he was looking at a young child.

Inside the social worker's car sat a young boy, barely visible through the window, curled in a big blanket. Tony couldn't explain why, but he was drawn to the child. He walked towards the car, opened the door and stared at the solemn boy, who's confused big eyes looked up at him.

Silence reigned between them for a while, neither knowing what to say. The kid was probably terrifed, Tony realised. He was nothing but a stranger to the boy and here he was staring at him, not saying a word.

"Hi."

The whisper broke the spell Tony seemed to be under. Having control over his limbs again, Tony kneeled down so as not to tower over the little boy. Basil took this as an invitation and jumped into the kid's lap. With the way the boy was bundled up in the blanket, there was no risk of him touching Basil. Still, the kid tensed for a moment at Basil's action.

"It's alright, he just wants to say hi too."

The young boy tilted his head as he watched Basil, a tiny smile appearing before vanishing just as quickly.

"His name is Basil. I am Tony."

"I know."

"You know me? How?"

"Daddy showed me pictures of you. You were his friend."

Tony felt his throat constrict as strange emotions surged upwards inside him. He hadn't thought of Richard Parker since they parted ways, so many years ago, but it seemed Richard had not forgotten about him. He'd even told his son about him.

"Peter!" A small desert fox crawled out from under the blanket, jumping onto the seat beside Peter. "You're being rude! Introduce yourself."

"Oh right. I'm Peter Parker, sir."

Tony shook off his surprise at the fiesty daemon before putting his hand on Peter's head in a paternal way that was very unlike himself. He just did it on instinct.

"Nice to meet you, Peter. And you weren't being rude, you were distracted."

The fox's ears drooped a little at the minor chastise before flipping upright again. One of Peter's hands removed itself from the blanket and petted her gently and lovingly.

"This is Kalyca. She can be quite direct at times."

"That's alright. I prefer people saying what they mean rather than circling around it."

Basil leaned towards Kalyca, carefully sniffling at her, not wanting to intrude on her space. Not only were he and Tony strangers to them, familiar strangers maybe, but Kalyca and Peter had also suffered a terrible loss recently. Gentle was the way to go.

Kalyca surprised him by licking Basil's nose before burrowing in Peter's side again as the cold wind from otuside howled its way into the car.

"Hey, Peter. Would you like to come inside for a bit? It's pretty cold out tonight and you look like you could use a warm drink. Do you like cocoa?"

Peter nodded fervently and scooped Kalyca up in his arms beneath the blanket. Tony helped him out of the car after Basil jumped down, and led him towards his home.

"Go on inside, make yourself comfortable. I'll be right there."

As Peter and Kalyca disappeared slowly into the house, Tony turned to the patiently waiting social worker.

"Are you still ready to sign the papers, sir?"

"Yes, I am. But I'm going to need the other papers."

Tony never regretted to this day changing his mind that night. Adopting Peter was the best thing he ever did. And now, his little boy was gone.

"Peter?"

Tony stood frozen, watching without looking as Steve crumbled beside Peter. Qatara began to howl and Basil shook beside him, unable to hide or control his emotions unlike his human. Tony did nothing to soothe his daemon. He couldn't. Basil's grieve was his own and just like no one could help him, he couldn't help Basil.

"Peter, please."

Tony struggled to hold a tight reign on his emotions as his husband fell apart before his eyes. Luckily he was distracted by movement in the corner of his eye. Raakel was slowly stalking into the room, as if she were afraid to enter. Upon seeing her, a rage overcame Tony and he turned around and grabbed Banner by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall.

"WHERE WERE YOU!?"

Raakel hissed threateningly, hair on her back standing up. Basil moved to block her, snarling in response.

"Tony, stop!"

Steve pulled Tony away from Bruce as Qatara grabbed Basil by the neck and carried him away creating some distance. Bruce did not move away or try to strike back for which Steve was grateful. Raakel rubbed against his leg in comfort yet continued softly growling, a clear sign that Bruce was still feeling that surge of anger at Tony's actions, despite not wanting to feel that way. However, there didn't seem to be a risk of the Hulk appearing. Bruce had enough control right now.

"Tony!"

Tony had pulled out of Steve's grip angrily pacing and refusing to look at Peter or anyone else. Steve didn't know hwo to help him because he was falling apart himself. He only knew Peter for a few years when he first met Tony, so he had less history with him, but that didn't lessen his love for the kid. Peter was their son and he was dead.

"Tony—"

"Save it, Bruce! There's nothing you can say. My son is dead!"

As if saying it out loud suddenly made it hit home, Tony started breathing heavily and his heart began pounding in his chest.

"Tony, you need to take calm and depp breaths. You're going to hyperventilate."

Tony backed away from Bruce, dodging Steve's reaching hands all the while taking a breath becoming more of chore. Peter was dead. His son was dead. And the last thing he heard from him, was his boy begging for someone to help him, to make the pain stop. Tony's legs gave way and he crashed to the floor in a heap. He didn't have the energy to push Steve away as he held him.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Peter, please..."

The grieving parents were interrupted by a loud screech from Raakel. She was standing next to Kalyca, flattening herself to the ground as if afraid or perhaps shocked? The reaosn became apparent clearly when Kalyca took a breath!

"What?!"

Steve carefully stood up but before he could approach Kalyca, a loud gasp came from the bed. Peter had taken a breath!

"Peter!"

Tony was up and beside his son even before Steve had managed to move. He gently turned his head to him, shaking his shoulders ever so slightly, hoping for a response.

"Peter? Can you hear me, kiddo? Peter?"

"We should move him to medical, Tony."

Tony nodded letting Steve gently pull him back when the medical team Bruce had called, arrived to take his son and Kalyca. All that mattered was that Peter was alive. His little boy was alive.

* * *

The slow, steady beep in the otherwise quiet room was only broken occassionally by a deep sigh. Bruce rubbed his hands down his face again as he tried to make sense of what was right in front of him. The data didn't lie, he'd checked and rechecked it so many times his vision became blurred from lack of sleep. The results on his screen were sound and yet he couldn't figure out ho wit had happened. The only person he could ask was currently lying in a bed behind him and had yet to wake up since he sort-of-technically died 5 hours ago.

"Staring at it, is not going to change anything."

Bruce spared a glance at his daemon, sitting on the edge of the desk, eyes focused not on Bruce but towards Peter, or more precisely Kalyca. Raakel appeared calm but Bruce could feel her unease at the situation through their connection.

"Staring at Kalyca is not going to change anything either."

"True, but her situation can change, so keeping an eye on her is time well spent, unlike someone else I could mention."

Bruce purposedly ignored looking at Raakel, not wanting to raise to her baiting, but it was hard to ignore the slight smugness radiating from her end of their bond. He knew exactly what she was getting at, but the prospect of telling the distraught parents what he believed to have happened to Peter was not a good one. Besides he'd much rather wait for Peter to wake up so he could help the teenager through the change first. It was traumatizing enough without the added stress and fear of his parents.

"For god's sake, Bruce! You can't keep them out forever!"

Raakel stalked in front of him, blocking his view of the screen and its data, Her ire was clearly projected through the bond and he couldn't really fault her fort he outburst as she was part of hi mand thus a part of him felt frustrated as well at his lack of action regarding Steve and Tony. They were Peter's parents, for god's sake! They deserved to know.

"I know, I know! I just can't, not yet. Surely you understand, Raakel. You know what it was like."

Raakel settled down, her temper slipping away like smoke on a breeze. She bubbed her head against Bruce's in a comforting gesture.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's hard to see them like this and even harder to know what they will go through."

Bruce took hold of his daemon, taking what little comfort he could in this situation while returning it to his daemon too. After all, her distress was his distress, her comfort was his comfort.

„I hope they wake up soon."

Right on cue it seemed, rapid beeps emanated from the heart monitor. Bruce approached the device to see what was wrong while Raakel moved closer to Peter.

"Could he be waking up?" Bruce turned towards the slumbering teen, observing his rapid eye movement behind closed lids. "Peter, can you hear me?"

"I don't think he's waking up, Bruce." Raakel stepped closer to Peter, sniffing the air. "I think he's dreaming?!"

Bruce reached out to calm the teen but the moment his hand touched Peters' forehead his eyes snapped open as if in shock. Peter moved so suddenly that he caused Bruce to stumble back and when he recovered Peter was no longer on the bed.

"Bruce?" Raakel's voice was distressed, unsettled. Bruce followed her gaze upwards, to the ceiling, where one Peter Parker was hanging from by his feet and fingertips. Bruce's mouth opened out of its own accord as he stared at the teen.

"Peter?"

Peter craned his head backwards to look at him and Bruce could see in the teens' eyes the moment he realised what he was looking at, or rather what _angle_ he was looking _from_. He snapped his head back foreward and stared for a few seconds at his own hands. Then as if his body caught on to his mind, his fingers lost whatever connection allowed them to stick to the ceiling, and Peter came tumbling down.

"Peter!" Bruce moved to try and catch him before he got hurt, but to his surprise Peter landed without trouble on his feet next to the bed. Bruce put a hand to his chest in relieve as he tried to settle his heart rate. "Peter, are you alright?"

Said teen was not looking at him, but rather at his own hands. Peter didn't know how long he stood there, however hurried footsteps thundered down the hallway, drawing his attention away from whatever had just happened to him. No less than four medical people rushed into the room stumbling to a halt as they stared at Peter. The urge to run, to escape became so strong, Peter found himself moving without consciously deciding to do so.

"Peter, wait!" The familiar voice had Peter turning around to face Bruce despite the urge to move, to get away. Something was wrong!  
"It's alright, Peter. I know things are very confusing right now, but I can help you." Peter wanted to believe him, he really did. Bruce was familiar, safe, someone he trusted. Bruce would make it all better, he always did. Peter moved ever so slightly forward when Bruce suddenly looked alarmed and shouted. "Stop, don't-!"

A hand closed around Peter's upper arm and by reflex Peter pulled his arm forward to free himself causing said person to stumble forward so violently he fell forward and banged his head on a nearby table. He was out cold instantly. Peter could not believe his luck. What the hell was happening to him?!

"Stop right there! We will restrain you. We mean you no harm, so calm down!"

Peter did not calm down. He didn't know what was happening to him, already he had knocked out two innocent people without even trying and he needed to see his dads.

"All of you stop, you're only making it worse. Get back!" Bruce tried to keep control of the room but it was getting cinreasingly harder to do with everyone confused and frightened. Having the Hulk roar in the back of his mind about threats and anger was not helping. It was costing most of his attention and energy to keep him at bay and form the look of Raakel shaking beside him, he was losing that battle.

"Let me go."

It was spoken in a whisper and broke Bruce's heart. Peter was confused and scared, it showed in his expression and his stance. His eyes fleeting left and right trying to find a way out. Bruce wished he could check on Kalyca as Peter had yet to make any mention of her, almost as if he'd forgotten about her, but he dared not look away from the teenager who was emotinally unstable while presenting a severe increase in strength and strange ability to stick to ceilings. With Kalyca's change, Bruce knew something had happened to Peter, but this was beyond his wildest theories.

"I'm sorry, Peter. We can't do that. I need you to calm down and let me help you."

"No no no no no no..." Peter turned around as his agitation tried to think back on how he'd gotten here, what had happened to him, but his memory was hazy. All he remembered was pain, so much pain.

"Emergency in medical, send security."

"No stop!"

It was already too late. Startled by the nurse and the following red lights and alarms, Peter ran for the door pushing past the remaining nurse and doctor who didn't stand a chance as they got thrown nearly across the room. Bruce tried to follow but collapsed onto his hands and knees with a pained groan as the hulk pushed to be released. Raakel snarled as she flattened herself to the floor nearby, watching the green snake its way onto Bruce's skin.

* * *

Peter was running as fast as he could. He couldn't recall why, only that he had to run. A painful tug in his chest convinced him to stop and draw in desperate breaths of air. The pain did not decrease nor did it increase. Peter was confused and wondered if something was wrong with him. Was this why he was in medical? Was he injured? He couldn't remember. But maybe Kalyca could.

Peter looked around, beside him, behind him. She wasn't anywhere! "Kalyca!?" Where are you?!"

Panic gripped Peter as he turned and turned and looked but Kalyca was nowhere to be seen. His breathing sped up and he started running again. Trying to find her. As he turned a corner he collided with another person who grabbed hold of him before he could fall.

If Peter had been in his rational mind, he would know he was safe in the tower, his home. But he wasn't in his rational mind. He resisted the hold, tried to push this person away. When it didn't work, Peter got angry and pushed with all his might. Horrified he watched the man collide with the wall and drop to the ground unconscious.

"Oh no, no, no, no! I didn't mean to do that?" As he approached, Peter noticed he'd knocked out none other than Clint Barton. He quickly checked for a pulse, relieved when he found one. Illarias his daemon hung from his shoulder, unharmed but out cold much like her human.

Seeing her reminded Peter of Kalyca, or rather Kalyca's absence. The panic and desperation returned full force and he found himself running again before deciding to do so.

* * *

Tony had never been a patient man, but now even less. Peter was on lockdown in medical after having d-, after ceasing to be alive, and not even Tony the owner of the goddamn tower was allowed to see him. His own son! He'd been ready to tear into Bruce if it weren't for Steve. His husband was his complete opposite; calm, patient, level headed and ordered. Steve was the reason he was sitting here in the kitchenette, his back to his avenger family seated on the sofa and chairs. They had dropped in one after the other when the news of Peters' situation had spread throughout the team.

"Tony,.." Steve watched helplessly as Tony refused to meet his eyes. The water and food in front of him went untouched. Basil sat under Tony's chair curled in on himself. Not even Qatara's whines could get a reaction out of him.

Steve mentally sighed, Qatara immediately picking up on it through their bond, and walked into the living area. Tony was shut off, nothing would get him to open up now except news of Peter or said teenager himself. Not to say Steve wasn't worried out of his mind. Peter was his son too and he'd died! Be it only a minute or so, but still. He shuddered at the memory prompting Qatara to gently bump her head against his hand, drawing him out of it. He scratched her ear in thanks before looking around the room and noticing someone missing.

"Has anyone seen Clint?"

"He went to the bathroom."

"That was fifteen, almost twenty minutes ago."

Worry nagged at Steve, despite being safe in the tower, their home. However, he didn't want to leave Tony alone either. Natasha seemed ot notice his plight and stood up when an unexpected distraction showed up in the form of Peter stumbling into the room.

"Peter!"

Tony nearly fell on his face in his haste to get to his kid. Too hurried to notice the rapid breathing, the panicked eyes, the wild movements. Tony reached to hug Peter, his very much living son, when Peter pushed him back throwing him clean across the room with little to no effort, only barely missing landing on his own daemon. Steve hurried to his dazed husband, while Qatara growled uneasily.

"Tony! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm think so. What was that?"

All eyes turned to Peter who seemed only to get more distraught, pulling at his own hair to try and alleviate his turmoil. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Why is this happening?!"

"Child of iron, what is the purpose of this?"

"Thor no, leave him be. Something is wrong."

"Fear not, I can handle one human child."

Thor approached Peter with a confident stride, reaching to grab hold of Peter, to restrain him. Peter didn't even notice him, having turned around as if looking for something. As if he had eyes in his back, he spun around, grabbed Thor's hand and flung him effortlessly over his back in a pro-wrestling move. He stumbled back as if confused, steadying himself on the wall as Thor, somewhat startled, scrambled back on his feet.

"Impressive, young one. Again!"

Thor moved forward, eager for a good fight, completely forgotten why he had approached Peter in the first place. "Thor stop!" Steve's warning fell on deaf ears as the Asgardian strode towards Peter. Again Peter deflected his attack, pushing Thor away with one arm sending him crashing into the far wall.

"What the-?" Tony was at a loss for words as he watched Peter fling a god across the room like it were nothing. Even stranger was Peter tugging on his own arm as if to free himself from the wall.

"Not again. Why is this happening. Just let go!" Peter pulled with his entire body but his hand refused to release the wall. With every tug that failed, he grew angrier and more desperate.

"Peter, I need you to calm down." As Natasha approached low to the ground and slowly, Peter seemed to settle ever so slightly. "I want to help you, маленький шпион . But you need to talk to me. Eyes on me, Peter." Peter's gaze returned to Natasha at the calm command after drifting across the room ins earch of something again. Nat's calm composure seemed to have an affect on Peter. It surely helped that Peter had been rather close to her. They'd met several times when Peter was very young due to Fury having sent her to spy on Tony, before Tony became an avenger.

"Talk to me, мой маленький шпион."

"I can't find her."

"Who, дорогой?"

Just then Peter abruptly turned around, crouching into a defensive stance. Standing in the hallway was Clint, Illarias on his shoulder. It looked like Clint got the wind knocked out of him as he held himself even so slightly steady against the wall. Peter shifted and Nat easily read his intend to fight. Semyon whispered in her ear before she could try and soothe him again or potentially restrain him, that someone else was approaching.

"Easy, Peter. It's alright, Kalyca is right here." Besides Bruce, Raakel slowly walked forward. No one understood at first, until Peter gasped and stumbled back in fright.

"There is no need to be afraid. I know this is confusing and scary, but she is Kalyca. You can still hear her, Peter."

"Peter?"

The soft voice was no doubt that of Kalyca. Everyone watched confused as Peter reached out to Raakel, but rather than touch Raakel -whihc Peter would never do normally- he stopped just inches before her. The avengers slowly came closer to see what was going on and then they saw it. A small, purple colored spider slowly crawled off Raakel's head and onto Peter's hand. He gasped upon contact and tears sprung into his eyes, despite his confusion.

"Kalyca?"

"It's me."

"How?"

"I think I can explain that." Bruce said as he looked at everyone in the room. "It's the reason I didn't allow anyone in to see Peter. I needed to talk to him first, because of Kalyca."

"You know what's wrong? What has happened?"

"I don't know exactly why or how this has happened, just what has happened."

"And what is that, exactly?" Tony demanded.

"All I know is that Peters' DNA has been drastically and irrevocably altered. But I do not know how."

Peter looked up at everyone apprehensively, but it was Kalyca who spoke. "We're so busted."

* * *

 _ **Russian translations [keep in mind, taken from online translator]**_

 _ **маленький шпион = little spy**_  
 _ **мой маленький шпион = my little spy**_  
 _ **дорогой = darling**_

 _ **Daemons:**_  
 _ **Go to my deviantart, Selene467. I've got a separate folder in my gallery just for Marvel Daemons. [unfortunately links no longer allowed here]**_


	3. Chapter 3

Peter buried himself in his jacket to combat the chill in the air. It was unseasonably cold today but he hadn't been in the right headspace when he'd stormed out of his home. He wasn't normally so easy to rile up but everything was different and kind of terrifying at the moment. Not a time when he could handle being verbally attacked by his own dad.

" _OSCORP?! You snuck into Oscorp?!" Tony paced in front of Peter who sat hunched on the sofa, Kalyca in otter form on his lap. "Of all the stupid things you could have done, this really tops them all. What were you thinking, Peter?!"_

 _Steve put a hand on Tony's shoulder, trying to calm him down but Tony shrugged it off. "Tony, -"._

" _Don't try to make this right, Steve. Peter risked his life! Who knows what kind of experiments they have in there?! He could have found some terrible bioweapon or, or... god only knows what else!"_

" _I know Tony. I'm worried too, angry even. But this is not helping"._

" _We don't even know what did happen. His DNA changed? Traces of radioactive particles in his blood and bonded with his DNA?!"_

" _I don't know exactly yet but from what I witnessed he has similar abilities to Steve. I won't no more until I've had a chance to test some things." Bruce seemed oblivious to Peters' reaction to that. Steve however had noticed. He stepped away from Tony to reassure Peter but his son was already standing up and backing away. Tony, distracted by his own turbulent emotions took this the wrong way._

" _Where do you think you are going? You are not just dropping this bomb on us and merrily walking away. Until I know what's wrong with you, you are not leaving my sight!"_

" _I won't be someone's science experiment! Not yours, not Bruce, not anyone's!"_

 _Steve pushed past Tony effectively interrupting the growing stand off between him and Peter. Peter was frightened and rightfully so. Seeing his dad so furious and directed at himself only made Peter more frightened and defensive. Steve already noticed a_

 _slight change in Peter's posture from simply seeing someone calm as opposed to Tony's rampant anger._

" _No one is going to experiment on anyone Peter. We just need to make sure you are unharmed and that whatever changed you is no longer a threat. We would never hurt you, Peter."_

He'd excused himself and hid away in his room, needing the space while they discussed what happened next. He knew he shouldn't have left the tower but after hearing his dads argue about him again -something about his pops being too gentle with him-, peter just had to get out. If only for an hour.

That was three hours ago. Now he was sitting in the park on a cold and hard bench wondering what his family was planning and whether they would notice his absence anytime soon. He should have never gone to Oscorp. Idiot! Why had he done that?!

Peter sighed. He knew why. That damn bag he found at his aunt and uncle's house. A photo of his father and one dr. Connors. He'd just wanted to know something more, anything more about Richard Parker. Even though he had a great life, two fantastic dads and a true family in the avengers, not to mention a wonderful aunt and uncle... and yet his birth parents' deaths still bothered him. There was just something about it. Maybe it was nothing, just his traumatised child mind trying to process it all through nightmares and dreams. But a part of him wondered if some of those dreams weren't made-up. What if they were memories?!

"Peter? Peter Parker?!"

Peter looked up, surprised to see none other than Gwen Stacy approaching him. It took a moment for Peter to get his head straight and stand up to greet Gwen, who by then was looking at him with an amused expression.

"Oh..hey. sorry, I was-"

"Stuck on a thought?"

"Yeah, yes. Something like that."

A fairly sized owl stretched its wings on the back of the bench drawing Peter's attention away from Gwen.

"Oh sorry, I forgot. This is-"

"Devlin, right?"

"Yes. You remembered?"

"Of course. You thought I wouldn't?"

"Well you did take quite the beating that day. Who knows how much you recalled from that day."

Her teasing smile was contagious causing peter to return it despite his previous mood.

"It wasnt that bad."

"Oh I think we both know it was pretty bad."

At peters outrageous expression she burst into laughter, a sound so sweet it had peter completely forgetting about his troubles. At an attempt to save what little dignity he had, he swatted playfully at her trying to make her stop, although truthfully he didnt want her to stop.

"You dare to make fun of me. I was a victim. You wound me."

That just made Gwen laugh even more and soon enough peter joined her, her laughter even more contagious. Kalyca jumped up on the bench watching happily, sharing a knowing look with Devlin.

After several minutes both teens calmed down enough for gwen to ask peter a question. "Would you like, maybe, if you're not too busy, and if you want of course-"

"I'd love to."

"Okay. Uhm okay. Lets go...this way."

Tony was not panicking. Tony Stark did not panic. However, Tony the dad of one Peter Parker would absolutely panic when his son who had recently be clinically dead for a minute and was still recovering from whatever science experiment he got caught up in, had up and left the safety of the tower without alerting anyone and he didn't even bring his phone!

* * *

"Tony, it will be alright. Peter is a smart kid."

"Not smart enough to bring his damn phone apparently!" Basil hissed agitatedly from the kitchen counter as Tony paced in front of it.

"He just needs some space. Give him some time before calling an emergency."

"He just died, Steve! Who knows what else is wrong with him. Bruce said himself he hadn't been able to figure everything out yet. Wish he'd hurry up already and tell us."

"Shall I retrieve your son, Man of Iron?"

For a moment Tony watched Thor, considering the offer. But he knew Peter had left his phone on purpose, so he couldn't track him. A clear indication he wanted to be left alone. Why he couldn't be alone in his room, in the safety of the tower with the entire avenger family present to watch out for him, was beyond Tony.

He sighed before answering. "No, that's alright. Thank you for the offer, but Steve is right. Peter just wants to be alone for now." Turning to said husband and pointing a finger threateningly at him; "But he'd better let me know he's alright within an hour or I will send my drones after him."

"That I can agree with. Come on, let's go see Bruce and get some answers."

* * *

An awkward silence stretched between Gwen and Peter until they reached the nearest coffeeshop and they were forced to speak to get their order. They sat down at a window booth, both staring at their coffee. Kalyca chastised Peter over their bond, not wanting to embarrrass Peter by speaking out loud. Peter for his part tried to appear calm and not like he was arguing with his daemon.

 _"Would you speak to the girl already?!"_

 _"Shut up, I'm handling it."_

 _"Really? Is that what you're doing? My mistake."_

 _"Really, Kaly?! Aren't you supposed to be on my side and...I don't know..help me!"_

 _"I am helping you."_

 _"This is not helping!"_

Peter accidentally knocked against his mug as he got caught up in his arguement with Kalyca. He barely managed to keep it steady, only spilling a little bit on the table. "Sorry", he mumbled as he attempted to cover it with a napkin. Gwen was watching him but it was Devlin's stare that unnerved him. It was like the owl was studying him, maybe even judging him? Gwen caught him looking at Devlin and was quick to shush Devlin who turned to stare out the window as if nothing had happened.

"Sorry about that. Dev can get a bit intense sometimes. I hope he didn't upset you?" She pointedly looked at the napkin on the table now covering up the spill.

"Oh no, not at all. That was just me being...well me." He looked down at Kalyca as he said the last part, but she just turned away while humming distractedly over the bond. "I can get distracted easily and my hands don't always catch up with my brain."

"Is that right?" Gwen smiled as she took a sip of her coffee, the awkward silence momentarily broken by a relieved one on Peters' end. Trying to quench his own nerves further, he took a sip of his own coffee only to nearly spit it out at Gwen's next question. "So why did you sneak into Oscorp?"

Peter's attempt to prevent spitting out the liquid, had the disastrous effect of it going down the wrong way and he ended up coughing madly, Kalyca crawling onto his lap wanting to help but unable to. Gwen was half out of her seat ready to get help, but Peter waved her back down. "I..I'm.. o-okay." He coughed several more times before his body settled down. He gratefully took the offered napkin from Gwen.

"I'm sorry. That was tactless of me. Are you alright?"

"I'm alright, really. You just caught me off guard." Peter patted Kalyca's head to calm her down too, even though she could feel that he was alright again. Taking a deep breath, Peter looked at Gwen and stopped. What could he tell her? The truth? He didn't want to lie to her, but the truth was something he didn't even understand. He didn't want to tell her something so personal before knowing himself yet he didn't want to lie to her either.

 _"Tell her you're interested in Connor's work."_

Peter shared a look with Kalyca at her suggestion before agreeing. Keep it vague but no lies. "I-"

"It's none of my business. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, Gwen wait. It's absolutely you're business. You work there and I had no right to be there. In fact you didn't rat me out, for which I'm grateful but also confused."

 _"You idiot, don't question her on that! What if she changes her mind and turns you in after all?!"_

Peter ignored the heated argument from Kalyca buzzing through his mind. No matter how deep a hole he was digging himself in, he had to ask. He felt so elated around Gwen, he wanted to know why she did what she did. If perhaps there was more to it than her simply being kind. As he looked at Gwen he completely missed Kalyca rolling her eyes beside him. She already knew what Peter was feeling, even if he didn't know it yet. It wasn't that she didn't share it, she liked Gwen and Devlin, but she feared how far Peter would go to chase that feeling. One of them had to be cautious with their situation.

"I guess, I didn't want you to get in trouble." Gwen blushed ever so slightly as she said that, looking down at her hands to avoid more embarrassment.

"Really?" Peter couldn't help smile at her which only made her blush more.

"Yes, so you had better not have done something to get me in trouble when you went off on your own."

"Right, I am sorry about that. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"So why _were_ you at Oscorp that day?"

Peter hesitated for only a moment. No lies. Not with Gwen. "I came across an article of Dr. Connors and it...well it was intriguing, fascinating. I guess I wanted to meet the man himself?"

Gwen's gaze was scrutinizing in its intensity, but she quickly diffused into a warm smile. "He is pretty great. But next time, no sneaking in!"

"I swear." Just then a phone buzzed in his bag, taking Peter by surprise. He had left his phone at the tower so that his dad couldn't track him. He was pretty sure he hand't tagged him with anything, lately. Kalyca eagerly dover into his bag recovering his now once more silent phone. It was an old one, faded blue and chipped on almost every side. It was his back-up phone for uncle he'd found out Peter left his phone behind sometimes to stop his dad from tracking him, he'd talked to Peter about it. He trusted Peter but worried about what might happen if he had no way to contact anyone. So they had come up with this idea, a phone only they knew about so that if ever Peter needed help he could call uncle Ben.

"Sorry, would you mind if I take this for a moment. It's a voicemail."

"Not at all. Go ahead."

Kalyca curled up on his lap, worry about what the message could hold nagging at them both. Peter pressed play.

 _"Peter, I heard what happened and I know things are tense right now. I cannot even imagine what you're going through. I know you like to hide away when things overwhelm you, but I want you to know there is always a place for you here, with your aunt and myself. If ever you just need some space, we're here for you. Our home is your home too. So please, let someone know you're alright. Everyone is worried about you. If you can't go home to your dads right now, at least come to us."_

Peter swallowed past the lump of emotions clogging his throat. Maybe it had been a bad idea to leave unannounced as he had.

"Is everything alright?"

"Sorry Gwen, I have to go. I'm really sorry."

"That's alright. Maybe we can do this again someday."

"That would be great." Peter stood up, stuffing the phone back into his bag and swung it over his shoulder. "See you at school Gwen. Bye Devlin."

Gwen watched him leave, a smile on her face. "He's cute, isn't he Dev?"

"Please, Gwen. How old are you? Cute?"

Gwen gave her daemon a look and he ever so slightly relaxed his pose. "Very well. Yes he is cute."

"What about Kalyca, then?"

Devlin's answer was to turn away to look out the window. Gwen already knew though. He'd enjoyed her company, much like Gwen had enjoyed Peter's company. Though the daemons had barely interacted, Gwen had felt Devlin's curiosity for the otter daemon and his shared fondness with Gwen for Peter. She was defnitely asking him out again.

* * *

"Alright Bruce, what do you know?" Tony asked as he walked into the lab followed by the rest of the team. Bruce turned around in his chair, hands together as he tried how best to explain.

"I wont really know what to look for until I've spoken to Peter. I need to know what exactly happened and what he was exposed to."

"But he's like Steve now?" Clint questioned as he fittled on an arrow.

"I said his abilities are _similar_ to Steve's. But Steve was enhanced. Peter's been changed, altered. His transformation can be compared to...-"

"To what?" Tony fiddled nervously with some tools on the table, Basil fidgeting beside him.

"Well to my own. Exposure to a radioactive substance, daemon shifting after being settled. Like myself, Peter's DNA has been changed, not improved which is what happened to Steve. Peter's change was rather violent, much like my own."

"Peter didn't turn into a giant raging monster."

"Tony!"

"What? It's the truth. Hulk is a giant and super angry."

"It's alright, Cap. He is right, but more importantly, I didn't mean physical. Peter's change was on a micro level. Whatever altered him did so fast and violent, which is why his body shut down. It couldn't handle it all at once."

"So it was like an aggressive virus."

"Yes Natasha, similar but not quite the same either. Unless I know what exactly happened, there is little I can deduce from the data I have. There are superhuman traces, as proven by his strength and speed, but there is something else that I can't identify unless I have more information."

"Like the sticking to walls part." Steve guessed.

"Yes. among other things."

"My apologies for interrupting, but I just received a phone call from Mrs. Parker." JARVIS commented.

"Sent it to me, JARVIS."

"She has already hung up, sir. She merely wanted to let us know that Peter has gone to his aunt and uncle and will be staying there tonight."

Basil curled in on himself, clearly showing how devastated Tony was feeling about that. Peter was his world and now he choose not to come home, if only for one night. Steve approached Tony calmly, feeling the same sadness but also understanding how Peter might feel, how overwhelmed the teenager was. He would come back, just not tonight.

"Tony, it's going to be alright. This is not because of you, Peter is probably just a little overwhelmed."

Tony gently stepped away from the comforting hand on his shoulder, scooping Basil in his arms as he walked out of the lab. "Yeah, you're probably right."

* * *

Peter woke up from the sun shining through the gap in his curtains. Still half asleep he dragged himself out of bed, maneuvering around Kalyca who lay curled up against his stomach. When his hand made contact with a wall rather than a door, it occurred to him he shouldn't be able to see the sun so early through his window with how tall the Avengers' tower was. He turned around and observed his room, noticing the lack of items that usually occupied the space. Kalyca yawned and stretched before giving him a pointed look.

"Did you forget we stayed over at Ben and May's?"

"Right."

Still feeling like his thoughts came too sluggish, Peter moved towards the hallway making his way to the bathroom. Kalyca easily kept up with his slow pace and seated herself on the edge of the bathtub before Peter had even closed the door behind him.

"Why are you such a morning daemon when I'm clearly not a morning person?" It was a rethorical question, one that Kalyca answered with an eye-roll before cleaning her fur as she waited for Peter to finish.

The peace and quiet was broken when Peter broke off the faucet, staring at it in horror while the water shot free of the plumbing. "Peter!" Peter turned defensively to Kalyca, "I didn't mean to do it!" before blindly grabbing several towels and plugging up the broken faucet.  
The towels were drenched in now time but as Peter turned to find more, he slipped on the water already on the floor and grabbed hold of the sink only to break it completely off the wall. Dumbstruck Peter sat on the floor, sink in his lap and water covering everything.

"PETER!" Kalyca shouted as she ran for the door, Peter scrambling to get up. "I'm sorry! I don't know why this is happening!" He wrenched open the door ending up with the doorhandle in his hand.

Back in his room, he quickly got dressed as he worried about how to explain the state of the bathroom to his aunt and uncle, though he should probably shut off the water in the house first.

"Come on, Kalyca. Let's go."

Very carefully, with the lightest touch, he closed his bedroom door. The sound of the doorbell had Peter stopping in his tracks at the top of the stairs. A wave of anxiety rose up out of nowhere, a feeling as if he were under threat. Trusting in his gut, Peter ducked behind the banister, out of direct sight of the front door. He heard his aunt May move towards the door, her footsteps echoeing loudly as if his hearing had suddenly been dialed up to the extreme.

Kalyca and Peter shared a look. _Maybe that is exactly what just happened._

Taking advantage of this new development -after all he could freak out about his supposed super-hearing later, Peter turned his attention to his aunt and whomever was on the other side of the door.

Aunt May opened the door, from this vantage point Peter could not see anything so he had no choice but to rely on his hearing, and with his enhanced hearing as of now he could easily detect the slight gasp of his aunt. She was suprised, startled, clearly not expecting whoever stood before her. Daijee, her dove daemon flew from the living room to perch on her shoulder. True to her strong character though, she spoke with a clear and strong voice.

"Good morning, can I help you gentlemen with something?"

 _Alright, so there was more than one person._ Peter strained to hear more, _needing_ to hear more if the nagging feeling in his gut was anything to go by. Something was very, _very_ wrong.

"Is this the residence of one Ben Parker and May Parker?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Are you May Parker?"

"Yes, I am. Now what is this about?"

"We are looking for one Peter Parker and we have reason to believe he is at this residence."

 _They were here for_ him _? Who were they? What did they want? Surely his dads wouldn't sent anyone to come get him?_

"Peter, I don't like this." Kalyca whispered, hunched beside him. Peter agreed with her, the strange feeling of _danger, threat, run, fight, act_ , growing stronger every second.

"And what do you want with Peter?"

"Please answer the question m'am." The voice sounded irritated and that worried Peter. How long could his aunt stand her ground before they took matters into their own hands?! Peter itched to go down there but if he did right now he might complicate things.

"Not until you tell me what you want with my nephew."

Peter's hearing picked up movement, shoes scraping against the ground, clothes rustling, even heartbeats for a few seconds. It was distracting enough that he blanked out for a few second by which the group of strangers had indeed taken different actions.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?! You can't just walk into my house!" Aunt May made to scuffle after the men stomping into the house, but Peter heard the movement behind his aunt and knew what was coming. "Hey! Let go of me!" Daijee shrieked loudly in protest.

Peter straightened and made for the stairs just as his uncle's voice also joined the mix downstairs, Sioka quaking loudly at his side.

"Let go of my wife and get out of my house, right now!"

"We just want Peter Parker. Hand him over and we will be on our way."

"Not on my life!" Peter wanted to be proud of his uncle for standing up to what were clearly turning out to be intimidating and dangerous men, but right now worry for the safety of both his uncle and aunt won out. He made his way, _quietly_ , down the stairs just catching a glimpse of his still struggling aunt as she was hauled into the living room.

"Enough of this. Where is Peter Parker!"

"I'm right here."

Kalyca made a discontented noise as she noticed the many large dog daemons standing around. Peter tried not to look at his aunt or uncle, knowing full well the looks of worry on their faces. Instead he faced the man who was clearly the leader of this little band of suits.

"Peter Parker, excellent." the man clapped his hands together with false cheerfulness, his gaze predatory as it fixed on Peters'. It sent all kinds of warnings through his head.

"Peter get back upstairs." Uncle Ben stepped forward, pushing past the arm that tried to block him and standing protectively in front of Peter. "If you think I'll let some strangers come into my house and take my nephew without question, you are sorely mistaken."

"Uncle Ben-"

"No, Peter. Stay out of this." Kalyca ducked her head as Sioka waggled up beside her, flapping his wings in his distress for the situation. Uncle Ben must be very worried if Sioka was acting so agitated.

The stranger seemed unperturbed by this act of defiance and it quickly became clear why. With an eery calmness, the man drew a gun and pointed it straight at his uncle Ben. "I'm afraid I have to insist."

"No, please don't! What do you want with Peter?!" Aunt May was shaking, her fear practically palpable to Peter. It screamed at him _to protect, save, act, danger_.

"You are not taking Peter." Uncle Ben held his ground, but Peter saw the slight nod the leader gave and suddenly hands were on him, pulling him back. Another man had snuck up behind Peter. He had been so focused on the threat in front, he had completely missed the other threat closing in.

Everything happened in the span of a few seconds. Peter tried to break free, uncle Ben hit the man in the face causing his dog daemon to howl in pain, aunt May shouted as she struggled to get free herself to probably help, the leader shouted a warning that no one heard or if they did, ignored and the last thing his already ringing ears caught was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

For just a moment the entire world stopped moving. Uncle Ben was holding Peter protectively after having hit the suit who tried to take him and then he suddenly sagged becoming a near dead weight in Peter's arms as he caught him. Peter vaguely heard his aunt May's distressed sob but his entire focus was on his uncle and the blood blossoming on his chest. A squak alerted him to Sioka. Kalyca went and nudged him in what little comfort she could offer for his pain, when she found herself smudged with gold dust.

She screamed as the duck daemon sagged to the ground, his wings turning to dust at an alarmingly fast rate.

"No!" Aunt May threw herself at Ben's side, trying desperately to stop the bleeding but only succeeding in spreading it over herself. Peter sat frozen with his uncle in his lap unable to look away from the fading daemon of his uncle.

A sharp pinch broke his frozen state but before he could realize what was happening or why his aunt May suddenly shouted and reached for him, he passed out.

Aunt May could do nothing as these men dragged her unconscious nephew away. Their leader stopped beside her on his way out. "This could have gone far better, had you just cooperated."

He left her there, holding her dying husband while her nephew was taken away.

* * *

Peter came to, slowly. His body felt heavy, uncooperative and just lifting his eyelids felt like an herculean effort, but he managed to scrunch them open a smidge. From what he could make out he was in the backseat of a car with two people in the front -one the driver, the other his partner? or someone to watch Peter. He noticed the windows were tinted darkly.

 _A smart choice if you plan on kidnapping someone._

Peter flexed his hands trying to deduce his situation. Strong, plastic wire held fast to his struggling, though Peter had a feeling he could break them if he really wanted to, considering what had happened yesterday with the avengers.

 _Had it only been two days since he went to Oscorp?_

Peter noticed movement below and saw Kalyca unconscious on the floor of the car. Unfortunately for PEter his movements had gained unwanted attention from the dog daemons he could now hear behind him, from the trunk. The non-driver turned around, boviously alerted by his daemon and started at the sight of Peter being awake, as if he had not been expecting it.

"Shit!"

"What? What's wrong?!" the driver glanced at his partner nervously.

"He's awake!"

"What!" The car swerved slightly as the driver started at the news.

"The kid is awake!"

"I _heard_ you! Do something about it!"

"What do you suggest?" Peter could only barely make out the non-drivers' face and from the look that crossed his face, he was taken aback by his partners' suggestion. "You can't be serious! You want me to dose him a second time?!"

"What other choice do we have! If the rumours are right, we cannot handle him awake. And if he is capable of waking up this soon, he can probably take it."

"And what if he can't?"

Peter never heard the answer because at that moment something slammed into the side of the car sending them careening towards the left crash barrier and ramming them into it violently. It was over in seconds, but left Peter with a pounding head, ringing in his ears, and a constant tingling from his new danger sense.

"Ka...kalycc..ca?" he called haltingly. He held his head as if that would lessen the pain ricocheting through it and blindly felt around for his daemon.

"I'm alright, Pe..Peter." She crawled into his lap, slowly. She was clearly in pain from the way she moved but Peter could not feel how bad. His own pain was too great to pick out what Kalyca was feeling specifically. And she no doubt was feeling the echo of his own pain. Best to let a third party deduce the damage then.

"Okay, I'm going...to get...us out."

Peter felt Kalyca curl against him and he held her close with one arm as he crawled forward on the backseat towards the door not curled around the guardrail of the highway. When he reached the door, he pushed with all his might and within seconds felt the door's resistance fall away. He tumbled out of the vehicle, still clutching Kalyca close.

His head was spinning and his sense of threat was constantly tingling, so when a hand landed on his shoulder he flinched and wildly flung out his arm. Whoever he was facing was not letting go, grabbing for him again and again no matter how often Peter pulled away. It wasn't until he felt metal instead of flesh or cloth that he stopped fighting. Confused he looked up and almost drowned in relief.

"It's okay, Peter. It's me, it's dad." His dad pulled him into a hug and Peter sagged against him. He was safe now. Unfortunately for Peter, his dad pulled away needing to check him over. "How badly are you hurt? I'm so sorry. I had no idea those idiots would startle this badly."

"I'm okay, dad. What happened, exactly?"

"JARVIS scanned the cars. There were three. You were in the middle one. I tried to stop the last car but they panicked and drove right into the car you were in. I was so scared I'd lost you." To emphasize this his dad hugged him again mindful of Kalyca and the fact he was in his iron man armor.

Peter would gladly stay like this for a while but his memory choose that moment to surface. "Uncle Ben!" Tony held him before Peter could run off in a tizzy.

"We've got him. I've sent a medical team immediately when we heard what had happened. They are taking care of him right now."

Both father and son jumped when the car Peter crawled out of slipped over the edge of the highway bridge. Before Tony could intervene it crashed onto the lower highway sending cars veering out of the way. Distracted by this Peter barely noticed the flair of warning and on reflex pushed his dad aside. Tony went flying a good distance before landing with a thump but Peter could spare him no thought when a strong arm wound around his neck cutting off his air. Peter struggled to get a proper foothold to force him off, but the man was relentless. A dog barked nearby, probably the suits' daemon. He felt stinging pain that he immediately knew was not from him. That daemon had hurt Kalyca!

His anger gave him the strength he needed and he pushed back causing the suit to stumble. He'd overestimated his strength though when he felt them freefalling off the highway bridge thorugh the gap in the guardrail.

"PETER!"

Iron Man was fast. Peter would know as he'd seen him in action and he worked on the suit enough alongside his dad. He also knew no matter how fast he was, the distance was too short to catch up. The suit had released Peter when they fell, desperate to save himself.

Peter felt a tug at his heart the further he dropped. His bond with Kalyca was straining!

 _"Peter!"_ He heard her shout for him in his mind and it inspired ihm to fight, to not give up. He wasn't dead yet, Kalyca wasn't gone yet! He tried to slow his fall but the ground was already there. He closed his eyes as he awaited the impact but to his surprise he felt his body twist and land smoothly on the ground.

Barely daring, he opened his eyes to find himself standing in a perfect crouch on the bottom highway, right next to the destroyed car and the suit who was not moving.

"Peter!" His dad landed next to him and shakingly grabbed hold of him. "Stop scaring me!"

"Sorry, I don't plan these things, you know." He gave a wry smile that evoked a grin from his dad. Though uncomfortable, the strain on his connection to Kalyca was better than the alternative. Their bond was in tact. He looked up, barely able to make her out looking down at him. His dad followed his gaze, horror overtaking his.

"Don't worry. We're fine. Though I wouldn't mind getting a bit closer to her and maybe go home?"

"Sure thing. I've got backup on the way to take care of this mess. Let's go home."

* * *

"Alright, how do you feel Peter? Still tired? Any nausea?"

Peter shook his head. "Nope. Not really, except for the tired bit but I guess the stuff isn't all out of my system?"

"Yes, there does seem to be some residual traces of it left in your blood. Though the rate at which it is disappearing is astounding."

Peter felt his dad's hand tighten on his shoulder ever so slightly. "That's all very fascinating Bruce, but I'd like to know if my son will be alright."

"Oh, right of course. Apologies Tony. Peter will be fine. The sedative, though strong, is already barely affecting him. His injuries, how minor they were to start with, are already healing rapidly. Another interesting develepmont. He'll make a full recovery."

His dad seemed to deflate with relief at the news, and although Peter felt relieved himself that he would be alright, his mind was on his aunt and especially his uncle. "How's uncle Ben? Is there any news?!" He turned to face his dad as his anxiety rose the more he thought about his uncle. "You said your medical team got to him, right?! How bad is he?!"

"Calm down, Peter. Yes my team got to him, but I don't know anything else yet. I was a little busy getting to you." At seeing Peter's face, he quickly continued. "Why don't I go see what I can find out?" Before his teenager son could complain, he quickly kissed him on the head like he used to when Peter was a little boy, before leaving the room.

A little later, aunt May entered and upon seeing Peter rushed over and hugged him tight. "Peter, oh my sweet boy. You're alright. I was so worried. They wouldn't tell me anything and they took Ben for surgery and I've just been waiting for any news."

"I'm okay aunt May. Promise."

Aunt May refused to let go of him ,so Peter just held on tight. Looking over her shoulder, he noticed his pops in the doorway and he couldn't help but give him a relieved smile. As angry and frustrated as he'd felt the last time he saw him before he'd stormed out of the tower, he was immensely relieved to be back and have both his dads near.

As if hearing his thoughts, his pops asked him a question. "Where's your dad?"

"He went to check on uncle Ben a little while ago. I haven't seen him since."

"I'll go check on him. You okay for a bit?" Peter nodded. "Yeah, just don't stay away too long, okay?" He may be a teenager on the cusp of adulthood and far braver than he thought he'd ever could be, but right now he felt vulnerable and wanted his dads near.

"You got it, kiddo."

* * *

Peter was only listening with one ear to Bruce as he went over his injuries and estimated how long they will take to heal, taking into account his body's increased resilience as witnessed by him falling off a highway and landing without a scratch. Aunt May took the whole mutation of her nephew's DNA quite well, though that might have more to do with the lack of news of uncle Ben.

When his dads walked into the room a little while later, his pops apparently having found his dad, Peter noticed the tension immediately. He didn't even need to look at their daemons who had their heads down and clung to their respective human. Peter barely noticed his aunt May getting up on shaky legs, his own eyes caught by his dad and the air of _defeat_ around him.

The spell was broken the moment he saw his aunt go down, fast from the corner of his eye. With a cry of alarm he moved as if to leap of the bed and help her, but his pops held him back before he'd even gotten one foot on the ground. Bruce had lurged forwards and caught her before she could truly hurt herself and held her as to Peter's horror, she burst into tears.  
Daijee sat on her lap, his entire form screaming sorrow as his wings hung beside his little body. With shaking hands aunt May hugged her daemon close to her chest while Bruce and Raakel stayed beside them.

Peter however was genuinely confused at what had just happened and felt in his right to ask exactly that. His pops held him gently by the shoulders as he made eye contact. Peter's eyes dragged themselves away at movement to the right, noticing his dad coming closer. A shaky hand joined his pops's on his shoulder, only further increasing Peter's anxiety.

"Pete, -" His dad seemed to struggle to speak and it was uncanny. His dad, the great Tony Stark had never faltered as he did now. Unwillingly, Peter's heart picked up feeding on their distress. Already his head was shaking left and right, as his subconscious already seemed to catch on, but Peter's waking brain refused to put the dots together. His pops sealed the deal.

"Peter, your uncle Ben...he didn't make it."

Peter felt nothing. The world didn't stop. His body kept working normally. Kalyca didn't make a sound. No thoughts suddenly rushed through his head. Just nothing.

For about twenty seconds.

"You're lying." The words were spoken calmly, matter-of-factly. There was no emotion that had pushed them through his lips. It was just the truth. Simple and true. "No, you're lying."

"Peter, kiddo...you know we wouldn't lie to you and especialyl not with something this important." His pops words were sincere and held truth. Peter knew they wouldn't lie to him, and yet his mind refused to give in. His pops, his dad, both of them were lying to him even though they never would and never had before.

The hands on his shoulders tensed ever so slightly, his aunt's sobs nagged at the back of his mind and ever so slightly he began to notice a flicker of distress coming from Kalyca. It forced him into motion without warning. An almost desperate need to proof that they were lying, somehow, overcame him. He threw the sheet clean off his legs and was out of the bed before anyone could stop him.

"Peter, stop. Hang on!"

Peter tried to make it to the door, tried to get out because the air was suddenly too heavy to breath and he didn't want to be here listening to their lies. A hand grabbed hold of his arm and he non to gently pulled his arm free before backing away from his dad. He held up his hands in a placating manner as he spoke to him. "Peter, please kiddo. Calm down, breath."

 _Breath?_

It was as if a bucket of ice-cold water just emptied over him. His senses sharpened and suddenly the room didn't sound quite as muted as before. His aunt's sobs had quieted some but still rang painfully in the room. His own laboured breathing finally reached his ears as did the slow rumble of a distressed Qatara as she stood just off to his side with her tail and ears down.

His uncle hadn't made it. He hadn't survived the gunshot. He wasn't coming back.

 _He was dead._

Like a sledgehammer against a wall, his emotions surged alive and he stumbled back as his legs turned to jelly. Both his dads reached for him but it was the solid wall at his back that caught him. He slid down in a rush, even as tears slipped from his eyes without consent. The first hand trying to offer comfort, set off a burst of anger so violent, it shocked Peter himself. A surge of adrenaline fueled by his anger, had him leaping up but he didn't get far before strong arms encircled him, restrained him.

"Let me go!" Peter shouted, he kicked, he pulled with all his might and for a moment it seemed as if he could free himself. But his pops steadied his hold and spoke words of comfort despite knowing they gave none. The words unleashed a grieve inside him he refused to acknowledge, but his body had already accepted. His shouts lost their fire until they were nothing but mere whispers, his body sagging in his pops' hold until there was nothing left except sob his aching heart out.

Kalyca's own grieve, _their_ grieve echoed across their bond towards him. Peter had not the strength nor will to look around for his daemon. His pops' hold was the only thing keeping him from crumbling onto the ground completely, but he just knew somehow that his dad had her.

So he let himself fall to pieces on the inside, let the truth wash over him.

His dads never lied to him. Uncle Ben hadn't made it. Uncle Ben had _died._

 _tbc..._

* * *

 **Notes: spidey sense is new so doesn't catch everything yet, hence the dude sneaking up behind peter when he was so focused on the threat in front of him.**  
 **And all his abilities are still new, so too his fast healing and other things, hence the sedative taking a while to fully leave his system but working fast enough to wake him up after about 20 minutes.**

 **By no means is there any medical or scientific knowledge here on my part. This is all just imagined knowledge to fit my story. In no means does it fit reality unless by accident. After all, I'm playing with fictional superhumans and aliens in this fandom :)**

 **! _Important question_ :**

 **Which Harry Osborn for visual references and such should I use. I'm undecided between Harry Osborn as portrayed by James Franco or by Dane DeHaan? Although Dane belongs with Andrew's spider-man which is the movie I'm basing this all on, I'm unsure about using the same Harry Osborn.**

 **So any and all opinions requested. Which Harry do you think I should base my Harry on? On a side note, this will not change the daemon I have planned for him, just who I'll keep in my head whenever I need to write him.**


End file.
